Grasping the Liquid

On the Analogies between the Materiality of Gelation and Essentialist Biases in Scientific Research

In comparative examinations of the process of gelation and the way in which essentialist biases are influencing scientific research, various analogies can be observed. The research focuses largely on gelatine, a gelling agent that derives from collagen, which is abundantly present in the human body. Secondly, it engages with sexual orientation, which is regularly studied with the purpose of identifying biological determinants of nonheterosexual behaviour as examined with a study by Ganna et al. (2019). Key aspects that were found to overlap between both phenomena are (A) the extraction of a single component out of a larger context, (B) this component’s application to solidify a liquid state into firm matter, (C) the large influence of external forces – which are characterised in the study as the mould – on the formation of the hydrogel/research data, and (D) the sensational way they are presented to a wider audience. Finally, the consequences of forcing a body into translucency by essentialist biases with its high risk of tilting into eugenic thinking are examined alongside various counterstrategies such as bum-shaking.

In comparative examinations of the process of gelation and the way in which essentialist biases are influencing scientific research, various analogies can be observed. The research focuses largely on gelatine, a gelling agent that derives from collagen, which is abundantly present in the human body. Secondly, it engages with sexual orientation, which is regularly studied with the purpose of identifying biological determinants of nonheterosexual behaviour as examined with a study by Ganna et al. (2019). Key aspects that were found to overlap between both phenomena are (A) the extraction of a single component out of a larger context, (B) this component’s application to solidify a liquid state into firm matter, (C) the large influence of external forces – which are characterised in the study as the mould – on the formation of the hydrogel/research data, and (D) the sensational way they are presented to a wider audience. Finally, the consequences of forcing a body into translucency by essentialist biases with its high risk of tilting into eugenic thinking are examined alongside various counterstrategies such as bum-shaking.

Schriftlicher Teil der künstlerischen Abschlussarbeit

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